Clore family farm to become multi-use development
By Amanda Manning
Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at 4:31 pm (Updated: January 23, 5:45 pm)
Original article in the Oldham Era
The master plan for a 482-acre family farm in Crestwood was revealed to the public on Saturday Jan. 19.
The Clore family, who has deeps roots in Oldham County dating back to 1808, has plans to create a mixed-use development surrounding Exit 14 in Crestwood.
The family hired DPZ, a global planning firm that designed Norton Commons, among other new urbanism projects, to create the development’s master plan.
The multi-use development is a large family effort between the Clore and Jones family. Family members traveled from all over the country to take part in a week-long charrette with DPZ that began Jan. 13.
Property owners and siblings Lee Clore, 76, and Carla Clore Jones, 74, are descendants of Elijah Clore, who it is believed purchased part of the now Crestwood farm in 1808 from Alexander White. The farm has remained in the Clore family since, with Lee Clore still living on the farm today.
The family has been approached with several offers for the property, but wanted to make sure the development was done right.
“We could have sold this to truck stops and sold it to firework stores,” Architect Gant Jones, son of Carla and Bob Jones said. “We did not want to sell until we had a vision and we wanted to make sure the uses that went in corresponded with that vision.”
The farmland, which has been primarily a tobacco and cattle farm over the years, is still farmed with cattle.
“Our goal is to create a property that when we look back, we’re proud of. That is community oriented and mixed-use,” Gant Jones said. “It’s about stay, play and enjoy rather than some place where it’s grab and go.”
The 482-acres of farmland is broken up into four parcels. “There’s a number of parcels that we’re really working to pull together as soon as possible,” DPZ Partner Matthew Lambert explained to the public.
The master plan includes 1,500 to 2,000 residential units that would vary between single-family and multi-family housing. Lambert said the housing would include mansion-style apartments, condos, cottages, homes, and town homes, among other types of housing.
Approximately 150,000 square feet is dedicated for retail and restaurant space in the plans, according to Gant Jones.
Lambert said that according to DPZ’s retail consultant, there is demand for grocery stores in the area.
“Walmart has groceries. It’s one type of grocery at a single quality and these are different types of groceries,” Lambert said. “There’s a market for at least two other types of groceries. One would definitely like to be in this location.”
The master plan also includes commercial development at the intersection of Highway 329 and the Highway 329 bypass.
Gant Jones did not have the square foot estimates for office or hotels, but expected them to be of similar sizes. Lambert said that there’s a potential of a boutique hotel at that intersection. “So you really see it when you get off the bypass,” Lambert explained about the potential hotel.
Jones expects there to be at least two hotels on the property.
DPZ also has plans to leave the home, which dates back to the late 1800s, and the tobacco barn in the multi-use development.
“The existing tobacco barn, which might be a great venue, we may extend it a little bit more,” Lambert explained. “We also thought it was important to retain view of the barn from 329.”
The master plan also includes a potential distillery tasting room at what used to be a distillery on the property.
Plans also include the potential of trails, a library, a public preschool, a pool, a splash pad and open spaces.
“We don’t want to create one place with just one character,” Lambert said. “We want to create a place that has diversive characters, centers, parks and housing of different types. That way we can provide a different experience for people who want to live there.”
Although the development has similar features as Norton Commons, such as its Main Street, DPZ said it’s a project of its own.
“We’re not doing a repeat of Norton Commons,” Lambert said.
The Clore and Jones family is excited about the development.
“It’s just gorgeous,” Carla Jones said about the master plan. “Now, we’ve got lots of work to do.”
Crestwood Commons, a luxury apartment complex, has already been approved on 14 acres of the property. Stephen Edwards, the developer who created the Oldham Oaks apartment complex in La Grange, is also creating this 218-unit complex.
The apartments were met with criticism from nearby neighbors who brought in an attorney and geology specialists to fight the development in 2017. Although the Oldham County Planning and Zoning Commission denied it then, it was approved in 2018.
The only voiced criticism during the Saturday meeting was a question about traffic on Ky. 329.
KYTC reduced the speed limit from Brownsboro to the Ky. 329 bypass from 55 to 45 mph last summer. “There’s been some talks about 329 and perhaps ways to calm that down,” Lambert said. “There are opportunities to connect trails and cross in places that are more calm and convenient.”
Lambert said there is also the potential of adding two stoplights on the highway.
The master plan development will require a zoning change to Planned Unit Development (PUD). Gant Jones said he would like to have the zoning change complete within the next year and a half.
The development would also have to be approved by the Oldham County Planning and Zoning Commission and the Crestwood City Commission.
The family doesn’t expect to break ground on the project for at least four years. It will likely be 20 years before the farm is fully developed.